PhD Position at Nations Museum of Natural History, Paris, France

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Thesis: body piercing and past human migrations

Phd thesis proposal: National museum of natural history, Paris, France

 

Recommended background: archaeology, or anthropology, or human population

Genetics

 

Lab: Eco-Anthropologie Umr 7206, Musée De L’homme, Paris, France

Duration: 3 years (starting fall 2020)

Supervisors: Franz Manni and Evelyne Heyer

Net salary: 1,400 euro

Contact email: franz.manni@mnhn.fr

 

How to apply:

Contact us before the 11th of June 2020, sending a short motivation Letter, a cv and a list of available master 2 exams scores.  Candidates Will be contacted back. The best candidate will have to prepare some Paperwork by the June, 19, 2020 to be admitted to a formal skype interview Of 20 minutes (10 minutes to illustrate the project and 10 minutes for Questions) to be set 1-3, July, 2020.

 

This phd project is aimed at investigating the spread of ancestral Body piercing practices in relation to past human migrations. This Is to say that body piercing is here considered as a vertically Transmissible cultural trait, maybe having a limited number of origins in time and space.  Like other body modifications (skull deformations, Teeth alterations, scarifications, tattoos, neck elongation, etc.), body Piercing relies on a very specific and quite complex know-how. Although Its symbolism is variable, diachronically and synchronously, the Practice actually relies on the method used to create, heal and enlarge A “tunnel” in the flesh: when the know-how is lost, the practice Becomes hardly possible. This is the research hypothesis of the thesis: The ancestors of the populations who practice(d) body piercing learned How to do it by contact with other populations. The history of body Piercing is likely to mirror past human contacts and migrations.  To be Clear: this doctoral project concerns only the study of traditional Body piercing practiced by many peoples in the world, it does not Directly concern “modern” body piercing emerged in California (the “modern primitives”) in the mid-1970s. Nevertheless, this recent Renaissance has shown that several years have been necessary to develop, Ex nihilo, a viable body piercing technique, meaning that it is not easy to reinvent body piercing. This is why ancestral (“traditional”) body Piercing may have persisted only where the know-how related to it has Been transmitted through direct learning, generation after generation. The oldest body piercing ornament is dated 46,000 years ago (langley et Al. 2016). Although other body modifications (ex: tattooing) can be as Old, body piercing leaves more durable evidence: the ornaments. Easily Recognizable by their shape (rounded, cylindrical, conical, or toroidal), Their symmetry, weight and polishing, body piercing ornaments will be the major object of study of the thesis. Contemporary or old, they are Available in many collections (public or private), this is why fieldwork Will not be necessary.  The project stems from an exhibition that took place at the Musée De L’homme , Paris, France (march 2019/2020; Curator f. Manni) and related work. The candidate will benefit the Help of the research network at the origin of the exhibition (40 Researchers, 12 countries: archaeologists, ethnologists, anthropologists, Curators). Currently the network is involved in the writing of a manual on body modifications to be published by an international academic Publisher. The outcome of the thesis can be included in it.

 

See here for more information

Two funded Ph.D. students at the University of Kardinal Stefan Wyszyński (Warsaw, Poland)

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Peter Jonason is looking for two funded (conference travel included) Ph.D. students at the University of Kardinal Stefan Wyszyński (Warsaw, Poland) in the Institute of Psychology to study online dating advertisements from an extended phenotype perspective. The project involves cross-cultural collaborations, psychometrics training, and research in personality, cyber, and social psychology from an evolutionary perspective. Details can be found by contacting him (click here) or on the web (click here).

Seeking Ph.D. students in psychological sciences at the University of Padova

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Seeking Ph.D. students in psychological sciences at the University of Padova. The psychology program features strong psychometric and experimental methods training with non-human animal facilities; a program that is over 100 years old. University of Padova is nearly 800 years old, is the home of modern medicine, was once the home of noted professors like Galileo and Copernicus, and is 30 minutes to Venice and 1 hour to Bologna (by train). In particular, Peter Jonason (www.peterjonason.com) is looking for MA and Ph.D. students interested in evolutionary, behavioral economics, and behavioral ecology approaches to personality, sex differences, morality, and mating research. Feel free to contact him to discuss (pkjonason@gmail.com).

 

Applications are due June 16th at 1.00 pm CEST. For more information, see here.

Two positions in psychology at Newcastle University.

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Two positions are available to join the School of Psychology, and the Behavioural Science and Psychology research theme at Newcastle University. Appointments will be made at lecturer or senior lecturer level. One post is focused on cognitive psychology, whereas the specialism for the other is open. Newcastle has existing strengths in comparative, evolutionary and biological psychology, among other areas. We are open to expanding our research capacity in all directions.

Further details are available at:
https://jobs.ncl.ac.uk/job/Newcastle-LecturerSenior-Lecturer-in-Cognitive-Psychology/591723501/
https://jobs.ncl.ac.uk/job/Newcastle-LecturerSenior-Lecturer/591715301/

Evolutionary Medicine Summer Institute (EMSI) at North Carolina State University

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We invite students, postdocs, faculty, public health practitioners, physicians, and veterinarians to the annual Evolutionary Medicine Summer Institute (EMSI) at North Carolina State University from May 17th to May 22, 2020, sponsored by the Triangle Center for Evolutionary Medicine (TriCEM) and organized by Brian Wiegmann (NCSU), Charles Nunn (Duke University) and Meredith Spence Beaulieu (Duke University).

EMSI will bring together internationally recognized experts in evolutionary biology with students and health practitioners who want to apply these perspectives to cancer, infectious disease, evolution of microbial resistance, neurology, autoimmune disease, the microbiome, and more. Mornings will feature lectures and exercises that are designed to instill an understanding of the core concepts in evolutionary medicine. In the afternoons, we will break into subgroups for training on specific evolutionary methods, including phylogenetics, molecular evolution, and evolutionary epidemiology, including introductions to key computational approaches. We will periodically regroup to share these findings across fields, and to promote a deeper understanding of the material and concepts through explanation to those in other disciplines. The evenings will include short talks by local experts on topics in evolutionary medicine, and time for further discussions and networking.

The Summer Institute offers a unique opportunity to learn foundational principles and gain hands on experience with evolutionary methods that are applicable to specific health challenges. In addition to this training, we offer the opportunity to network and build collaborations for scientists and practitioners across disciplines. To facilitate networking, teams will form to initiate short papers that present evolutionary perspectives on specific diseases, which will be submitted as “Clinical Briefs” to the journal Evolution, Medicine and Public Health, potentially resulting in a short publication for interested participants.

Registration for EMSI is $325 without housing and $525 with housing.
Please direct questions to Meredith Spence Beaulieu (meredith.spence.beaulieu@duke.edu) or Courtni France (cnf12@duke.edu).

You can apply at this website: https://sites.duke.edu/emsi/what-is-emsi/
Applications are due March 20, 2020.

Abstract submissions for the Culture Conference 2020 are now open!

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Abstract submissions for the Culture Conference 2020 are now open!

Submissions should be relevant to this year’s theme of “Evolutionary Perspectives on Culture”. Abstracts for talks and posters up to 300 words will be accepted until 20th March. Poster submissions also have the option of a 5-minute lightning talk.

This year we’re doing a blind review of all abstracts so please ensure your submission contains no author names, affiliations or other potentially identifying information. Please email cultureconference@stir.ac.uk with your anonymised abstract in a separate attachment.

We are also offering grants for presenters who are students, on low incomes or with high costs associated with attending such as childcare requirements. For more information please email us or see our website: www.culture-conference.com.

We expect that conference registration will open around mid-April, keep an eye on our Twitter feed (@CultConf) and our website for updates

5-year Research Fellow position available at University of Portsmouth

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5-year Research Fellow position available as part of ERC Consolidator grant ‘Individual differences in facial expressivity: Social function, facial anatomy and evolutionary origins’ at University of Portsmouth

 

The University of Portsmouth is a dynamic and ambitious institution with a track record of success. One of only four universities in the south east of England to achieve a Gold rating in the Teaching Excellence Framework, it is also ranked 21st in the 2020 Guardian League Table University Guide, and 113th in the Times Higher Young University World Rankings.

We are seeking to appoint a full-time, 5-year Research Fellow at the University of Portsmouth, Department of Psychology, Centre for Comparative and Evolutionary Psychology, as part of European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Grant FACEDIFF “Individual differences in facial expressivity: social function, facial anatomy and evolutionary origins” awarded to Professor Bridget Waller.

The Research Fellow will develop, conduct and manage laboratory based cognitive and behavioural experiments with human participants at the University of Portsmouth. The experiments will focus on social interaction, nonverbal behaviour and facial expression processing. The Research Fellow will use the Facial Action Coding System (FACS) and Social Network Analysis and conduct statistical analysis on the data using R. The Research Fellow will work closely with a PhD student and Research Associate on the project as well as other staff in a large inter-disciplinary research team. The goal for this part of the project is to conduct a series of behavioural and cognitive experiments as a comprehensive analysis of individual differences in facial expressivity. We are seeking a passionate, experienced and skilled researcher to join our team. Relocation expenses are available (please see the University of Portsmouth relocation expenses policy).

 

For advert details, see here.

Call for Papers: Psychological Perspectives on Culture Change (American Psychologist)

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Call for Papers:  Psychological Perspectives on Culture Change

Important Dates

Paper proposals due: March 31, 2020

Decisions on paper proposals: April 30, 2020

Manuscripts due: July 31, 2020

 

Guest Editors:

Michael E. W. Varnum, PhD, Arizona State University

Igor Grossmann, PhD, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

 

Advisory Editor:

Lillian Comas-Díaz, PhD, American Psychologist Associate Editor

 

Aims of the Special Issue

The goals of this special issue are (a) to draw together research and theory from the emerging psychology of cultural change to promote a deeper and more systematic understanding of cultural dynamics and (b) to promote a more rigorous approach to this research enterprise going forward. We are especially interested in manuscripts that provide theoretical explanations for specific patterns of change that are relevant to psychologists and lay people alike (e.g., e.g., increasing levels of anxiety, decreasing levels of prejudice yet increasing frequency of hate crimes)  and manuscripts that provide insight into the dynamics of cultural change writ large (e.g., Why do some shifts occur rapidly vs. slowly? What factors might make a society more susceptible to change in general?). To meet the goal of increasing rigor in this emerging field, we also ask that authors include where feasible concrete predictions for the future using time series forecasting methods. This is especially encouraged if your manuscript presents original research and is also strongly encouraged if your manuscript reviews a previous program of research that did not contain forecasts. By doing so, we hope to encourage a shift from the current largely descriptive/postdictive approach to studying cultural change to a truly predictive science.

 

Background

We live in an era of dramatic change and upheaval, a reminder that human societies are not static. How and why do cultures change? In recent years, psychological scientists and others have begun to quantify large-scale changes in our psychology, behavior, norms, and societies.

 

This increasing focus on cultural change has been enabled by the Big Data revolution, greater access to archival sources, and the integration of theory and methods from a variety of fields outside of psychology, including econometrics, computer science, and evolutionary biology. This has led to a number of discoveries about how our cultures are changing.

 

Yet a number of key challenges and opportunities remain for this emerging field. Can psychological scientists move beyond documenting patterns of change to testing theories about the causes of such shifts? Beyond explaining the past, how can behavioral scientists approach forecasting what human minds and societies might look like in the future? Our hope in this special issue is to begin to address these questions and to lay out a roadmap (both theoretical and methodological) for researchers to follow in the future.

 

Manuscript Submission

Paper proposals are due March 31, 2020 and should be emailed to one of the guest editors:

Michael E. W. Varnum, PhD: mvarnum@asu.edu

Igor Grossmann, PhD:  igrossma@uwaterloo.ca

 

Decisions on proposals and invitations to submit full manuscripts will be emailed to potential contributors by April 30, 2020.

 

Full manuscripts should comply with American Psychologist’s submission guidelines (including manuscript length) which can be found on the American Psychologist home page. Manuscripts should be submitted electronically via the journal submission portal by the deadline of July 31, 2020.

Job Postings at Brunel University London, Centre for Culture & Evolution

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Brunel University London is recruiting at all levels at the Centre for Culture and Evolution @CCE_Brunel. For Reader/Professor, we are looking to recruit in the area of cross-cultural psychology and individual differences (https://careers.brunel.ac.uk/vacancy/readerprofessor-of-psychology-cce—13347-409584.html). At L/SL level, looking to recruit in areas of behavioural ecology, cross-cultural psychology, evolutionary anthropology, and/or evolutionary psychology (https://careers.brunel.ac.uk/vacancy/lecturersenior-lecturer-in-psychology-cce—13348-409565.html).

UCLA’s new Ph.D. Program in Communication

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UCLA’s new Ph.D. Program in Communication is now accepting applications for its first class starting in Fall 2020!

 

Whether you are looking for a graduate program that will expand your opportunities into academia, or are planning to pursue a career in industries requiring advanced analytical research experience, this program is designed for you.

 

UCLA’s new Ph.D. Program in Communication will offer students rigorous interdisciplinary training from world-renowned faculty at the forefront of communication research. The program will center on three main areas of study: Communication and Cognition, Computational Communication, and Political Communication.

 

As a student of this program, you will

  • Design a research project that will address inquiries impacting the field and enrich your personal academic development
  • Receive close guidance from your faculty mentor who will support your first and second year projects that will culminate in a Ph.D. dissertation
  • Be trained in cutting-edge communication methodologies that will hone your empirical skills, knowledge, and analysis
  • Gain proximity to technology and communication industries in the vibrant and global city of Los Angeles
  • Build a resume that makes you highly sought after within both academia and industry

 

The application is now live!

The deadline to apply is December 15, 2019. Learn more about the program, funding, and the application process at https://comm.ucla.edu/graduate/program. The site also provides an overview of our UCLA Communication department faculty and their groundbreaking research projects in the communication and technology field.

 

For further inquiries, please email gradprogram@comm.ucla.edu or call (310) 825-1703. We are excited to hear from you!